WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK

I like to watch heavy rain videos set in Java, Indonesia. I find watching them to be very relaxing. However, after watching several of these videos one can't help noticing that there doesn't seem to be any sewer systems in the hundreds of picturesque Java villages. This can't be true - can it?

However reluctantly, one finds oneself forced to ask a distasteful question: where do these people poop and how do they dispose of it?

Currently, only 2 percent of households in the core of Jakarta, which has a population of 11.5 million, are connected to the public sewerage system. Most urban households have septic tanks – but they leak.

So, what happens to the "fecal sludge"?

Ninety-five percent of Indonesia’s wastewater (both black and grey) flows into agricultural fields, rivers, and open drains.

The health repercussion of this are immense. Poor quality of groundwater contributes directly to infant mortality (18 per 1000 births compared to 4 in Canada). 

Indonesia also suffers from a disproportionately high incidence of typhoid for its region and income level, and stunting has become a severe health issue.

The lack of sufficient wastewater treatment has forced the housing occupants to treat their blackwater with either a septic tank) and to direct the greywater through open channel straight into rivers. 

Is the tap water in Indonesia drinkable?

Short answer: No, it is not!!

Domestic sewage and mismanaged solid waste are polluting surface and groundwater, especially in Java. 

Indonesia ranks among the worst countries in Asia in sewerage and sanitation coverage. Few Indonesian cities possess even minimal sanitation systems. 

The absence of an established sanitation network forces many households to rely upon private septic tanks or to dispose of their waste directly into rivers and canals. 

The commonality of the latter practice, together with the prevalence of polluted shallow wells used for drinking water supply in urban areas, has led to repeated epidemics of gastrointestinal infections.

Unsafe drinking water is a major cause of diarrhea which is the second leading killer of children under five in the country and accounts for about 20% of child deaths each year. 

Every year, at least 300 out of 1,000 Indonesians suffer from water-borne diseases, including cholera, dysentery, and typhoid fever, according to the Ministry of Health. World Bank's Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) in 2008 revealed that poor sanitation, including poor hygiene causes at least 120 million disease episodes and also 50,000 premature deaths annually. 

Eighty-seven percent of Indonesians are Muslim. One would think that the religious leaders in Indonesia would call upon their adherents to change their behavior. On that point, one would be wrong.